Attorney General targets apps

The proliferation of malicious mobile-device apps has caught the attention of California Attorney General Kamala Harris.

This week, she began notifying scores of app developers that they are violating state law by failing to explain on their apps what personal information is being collected on consumers and how it is used.

Harris’s office said the letters are the first step in enforcing the California Online Privacy Protection Act, which requires commercial operators of online services that gather information on users to conspicuously post a privacy policy.

Under the law, violators can be fined up to $2,500 each time a non-compliant app is downloaded.